Coconut Cruncher

11th March 2016 Women don't really spend time in actual self-relflection. Rather, we've been giving an awful amount of importance to how we look. This has been an age old problem - the vintage ads were really demeaning, and considering we are now more aware of this objectification of women, it's surprising that ads have gotten more and more objectifying rather than progressive and genuine.  We don't realize when we let them affect our perception of ourselves, but it happens at a very subconscious level. People are the first to tell you if you've lost or put on weight - if you have bags under your eyes. If people don't tell you, you compare yourself not to the women you know - the real women; but instead the instagram models, skinny or voluptuous women in bras (or not). The facebook posts of actresses and actors and popstars post surgeries. We compare ourselves to the Yves Saint Laurent pictures and the Sisley fashion models. Skeletons with clothes portr...

Blackfish Review - 30th Jan 2016 I watched ‘ Blackfish ’ tonight, and it’s one of the best documentary films I've seen. Blackfish is directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, and it follows the controversial captivity of Orca whales (killer whales), and it’s dangers towards both humans and whales. The documentary is incredibly shocking, disturbing, education, heart wrenching, and painful to watch. It just shows how low we can stoop as humans. I have always felt very strongly about wild animals held in captivity for human entertainment. I remember when I was about 13 and we went to Mahableshwar, my parents wanted to take me horse riding. Most horses aren’t wild anymore, they’re considered domestic animals. But I just didn’t feel right to sit on it for ‘fun’. I just didn’t want to be a part of it, and everyone else had a good time, and I was pretty relieved that I didn’t join them. They would call me oversensitive; But seriously thinking, how many times have you guys gone for sho...

3rd Jan 2016 A very happy new year to you all! I hope 2016 is as exciting, fun, adventurous, happy, sad, and transformative as my whole life has been so far! ;) Today I had a exceptionally chilled out, yet awesome Sunday. We woke up late, had a hearty and wholesome home-cooked misal-pav - thick and creamy, and then watched ' The Hateful Eight ' by Quentin Tarantino. I had seen this trailer SO long ago, that I forgot it existed and didn't know when it came in and went out of theatres. Anywho, like any other Tarantino movie, it was AWESOME. I had this awesome storytelling like I was reading a book with all its cliff hanging chapters and gruesome yet eccentric and unpredictable characters. I love how in each of his films he makes sure the audience remembers the names of each of the characters and associates a personality to them. It reminded me to watch more films of atleast directors I already love; and made me want to draw out those characters - Jon Ruth, Daisy Domergue, M...

It's been a while since I wrote something. I went through some old journal entries to instrospect on the kind of person I was back then. Here's one from 26 th July 2014. . . . . . We’ve been in a long on-going period of flat hunting. Now that that’s finally done, we’re all working towards getting a tenant for the current house that the guys lived in. I wonder how long it’s gonna take India to move on and let people live their lives. Basic human rights that people have are not given here. One’s right to have animals in the house; right to live with whomever you want. Right to love someone of the same sex openly, and the right to choose who to be with. Sometimes I look back at myself when I judge someone, and wonder where it’s all coming from. Was it my upbringing? The society? Was it me? There are things I still feel I need to change about my thinking and approach towards other humans. Today evening, I went to buy groceries in Hypercity; we were so out of...

Quick review of films watched last 2 weeks! Inside out: Absolutely beautiful! The design wasn't extremely unique, but the thought behind it and the storytelling was lovely! It didn't follow the usual pixar story structure with one character and his/her arc (which is also awesome), but was great nevertheless. Terminator: Genysis: I didn't have extremely high hopes for this film, but it was really below whatever expectations I had. The action was good, but they took some of the iconic shots from the originals. The storyline was haphazard and the time-travelling was so overused. The characters really needed to be fleshed out better and Khaleesi was terrible casting for Sarah Connor. She looked chubby and cute instead of badass, and trust me, I love Emilia Clarke. But no. The rest were pansies, besides Schwarzenegger of course. He never ceases to be awesome as the terminator (a.k.a: Pops) Jurassic World: I really regret not seeing this in the theatre. Lakshmi total...

This isn't related to art, but it's so important that I had to share it on as many platforms possible. What an absolutely insightful, thought-provoking and inspiring story. I hope this spreads like wildfire and touches people the way it touched me. Humanity has gone at all lengths to destroy itself. I really hope for once, we reconstruct to restore balance. Please send this to as many people as you can to create awareness, and hopefully it would reach governments and important officials who can help us plant more trees and kill fewer animals. Economics PhD Sebastião Salgado only took up photography in his 30s, but the discipline became an obsession. His years-long projects beautifully capture the human side of a global story that all too often involves death, destruction or decay. Here, he tells a deeply personal story of the craft that nearly killed him, and shows breathtaking images from his latest work, Genesis, which documents the world's forgotten people and pl...

17 th May 2015 Mad Max – Fury Road Mad Max is the 4 th film in the Mad Max series directed, produced and written by George Miller. We went to see the film in Inox Screen 1 with Dolby ATMOS sound. I couldn’t be more lucky to have seen it there.  This is evidently the BEST action film I’ve seen in all of time. The film is based in a post-apocalyptic world where humans have now become a wild inhumane race. In a stark desert landscape, the story is about journey of two rebels, Mad Max – a blood bank for the War Boys, and Imperator Furiosa on a wild ride to escape from the Citadel with their ruler (Immortan Joe)’s child brides in desperate hope for a better home.  The film’s characters are so well rounded and their goals are so evident. The film is thrilling with some glorious visual effects. But what I was absolutely floored by was the fully rounded world that was created in the film. Everything seemed to have been so well thought out, from the vehicle rigs, th...